As we started to reflect on 2016 and everything that we had gone through as a brand and individuals, one thing was clear: we were all looking forward to the start of 2017 with new hope and inspiration.

Sitting down in a brainstorming meeting about an upcoming event, we had an idea. If all of us shared what got us through 2016 and talked about what we would like to see be different in 2017? What would that look like and what kind of responses would we get? This idea inspired us to take it one step further.

Getting Everyone Involved

We decided to make this big. We knew that sharing amongst ourselves would be a great exercise but we wanted to branch out even further, to take it to the streets and get responses from Boston! So that’s what we did. We crafted a larger than life chalkboard that we could fill up with responses from anyone who wanted to participate. One side asked what got you through 2016 and the other asked what are your hopes for 2017. A social experiment was formed.

We Were Blown Away

The responses we received were amazing. It didn’t take more than a minute after setting up the board in Faneuil Hall – Quincy Market for someone to walk up and ask to participate. As one person wrote, others would watch the response and pick up a piece of chalk to write their own. It continued like that for hours. The board was completely filled and we had to take away the chalk because there was no more room to write.

They Were Inspired As Much As We Were

During the process, we had so many people walking up and thanking us for what we were doing. It was refreshing to see that people were inspired by reflecting and looking forward. One guy had a group of teenagers that he mentored that just happened to be in the city visiting and walked by when we first setup. He encouraged each of them to participate. According to him, he was so inspired and thankful that we would do something so relevant and timely. Also, he had an opportunity to talk to those boys about life and about their future hopes and dreams. The great thing about it is that we created that opportunity, not only for him, but for us to witness.

Social Experiment

This social experiment was not the first that IM Boston has participated in. Through our Dare to Give initiative, we’ve launched a few events that took to the streets of Boston to do good. Dare to Give is a ‘pay it forward’ initiative where several organizations partner up to encourage community involvement and acts of kindness. If you are interested in learning more, you can register on the DareToGive.net website to participate in upcoming events.

IM Boston in 2017

IM Boston is looking forward to 2017. We are refreshed and renewed by the inspiring events that took place during our experiment and are looking forward to the upcoming year where we’ll be expanding our line of clothing- IMB Clothing on the shop section of our website as well as hosting several upcoming events. These include networking events and a vendor expo that will be open to the public in Spring 2017. Keep your eye out and follow us on social media to stay connected!